Call Kurtis Investigates: Why Is Dad's Headstone On The Wrong Grave?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A family found a monumental mistake at a Sacramento cemetery when a loved one's headstone was placed on the wrong grave.

Shelby Dunkl has been mourning the loss of her best friend and father, Michael Dunkl, for the last year.

Michael's grave marker is a football field away from where he is buried.

Shelby looks down her dad's marker and has no idea who's buried beneath it.

"I don't know whose grave this is, said Shelby, "I think it's b-------."

They put the gravestone on the wrong plot, a football field away, unmarked.

"It's all the way over there," said Shelby.

The only identification of Michael Dunkl's grave is a plant the family placed there.

Shelby says Camellia Memorial Lawn admitted the mistake but did not fix it.

"They said that I don't take priority over funeral services," she said.

More than three weeks after pointing out the mistake, Shelby had no answers when they would make it right.

"I feel like I'm unimportant, like my dad's unimportant," she said.

We stopped by the cemetery office; the staff inside said they worked for a temp-agency and said there was a management shake-up.

ALSO READ: Is Black Bart Buried In Historic Marysville Cemetery?

We then reached out to the corporate offices, which did not explain the delay. It did admit the grave marker was inadvertently placed in the wrong location in the cemetery near an unoccupied grave.

Shelby wants the headstone in place by the upcoming anniversary of her dad's death, so she paid a third-party company to move it, which they did the next day.

After we got involved, the cemetery agreed to reimburse the family the $300 to move the marker, saying, "We have spoken with the family to express our condolences and make sure they are satisfied."

Shelby's father's grave is now marked in time for the vigil on the anniversary of his death.

"I think they should be more careful about what they do," she said.

The third-party company who originally installed the gravemarker did so at the direction of the cemetery, which apparently gave the wrong plot.

Statement
The grave marker in question was ordered by the family from a third party vendor and was inadvertently placed in the wrong location in our cemetery near an unoccupied grave. We have worked with the family and the third party vendor to relocate the marker to the correct gravesite. The move is complete, and we have spoken with the family to express our condolences and make sure they are satisfied.
~Camellia Memorial Lawn~